ASLEF condemns excessive rail fare increases

28 November 2007

ASLEF general secretary Keith Norman predicted ‘an immense sense of outrage’ at the news that some rail fares are to increase by up to seven times the current rate of inflation. ‘Today’s announcement flies in the face of the government policy of attracting people to rail,’ he said.

Some commuters face rises of up to 14 per cent when train companies bring in the rises in early January, while the average rise will be 6.8 per cent. Passengers traveling from Hayes in Kent will face a rise of 14% where a weekly season ticket will jump from £24.80 to £28.50.

Companies elsewhere in the country are also expected to reveal price increases above inflation when the Association of Train Operating Companies makes an announcement on fares.

‘This is almost unbelievable when statistics show that since Labour took power, there are 42 % more passengers but only 20% more seat capacity and the number of trains have only increased by 5%,’ Keith added.

‘This is at a time when health workers are being offered 2.5% increases – and some government figures are proposing that tax-payers should fund political parties!

‘Labour needs to get more in touch with the real world – and one way of proving this would be to take rail back into public hands so that services and fares can be centrally controlled for the benefit of the traveling public.’